The Deployment of British Troops - Background Information

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Introduction
There were a number of events,
and political developments, from the beginning of 'the Troubles' in October 1968 through to the summer of 1969
which explain the reasons for the deployment of troops on the streets of Northern Ireland and the reactions to that deployment.

The following paragraphs are intended
to briefly highlight some of the events and developments surrounding the actual deployment of British troops. The reader
should consult other sections of the CAIN web service for further
information and also the CAIN Bibliography for references to detailed
information on particular sections.

The emergence of the Civil Rights CampaignThe Civil Rights Campaign
that started in the mid-1960s began in the 'pressure group' activities
of mainly middle-class Catholics who published leaflets, issued
statements and sent letters in the hope of addressing perceived
discrimination, in many walks of life, against the Catholic community.
The membership and tactics of the Civil Rights Movement was to
change over the course of several years. It was to become a more
broadly based organisation and was to adopt public protest on
the street as the main means of achieving the movement's aims.

Unionists, however, viewed the developments
with deep suspicion and in many instances their reaction was openly
hostile. Many Unionists believed that the Irish Republican Army
(IRA) was behind the agitation and accused those involved of being
more interested in undermining the Northern Ireland state than
in reform.

The civil unrest - 1968 and 1969The civil unrest, the rioting
that often accompanied street protests, the confrontation between
the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and sections of the Catholic
community, and the destruction of property, were all viewed by
the Protestant community as direct attacks on the fabric of the
Northern Ireland state.

The reforms introduced to answer
Catholic grievances - 1968 and afterwardsThe first reforms and policy
initiatives were announced towards the end of 1968 and the following
years saw a number of provisions introduced to address allegations
of discrimination and malpractice on the part of public agencies
and government departments in Northern Ireland. Some of the reforms
involved merely a change in legislation and quickly achieved the
desired effect, such as those reforms related to universal adult
suffrage in local government elections. Other reforms have proved
more problematic and appear to have had less of an impact, for
example, despite several pieces of legislation aimed at achieving
fair employment, the level of Catholic male unemployment has remained
much higher than the Protestant level.

The series of reforms were opposed by
a large section of unionist opinion, indeed the issue of reform
was to see the fragmentation of the Unionist Party which had ruled
Northern Ireland for 50 years. There was also violent opposition
in working-class Protestant areas to some of the measures. On
11 October serious riots followed protests by Loyalists against
the disbandment of the 'B Specials'. Later Loyalists open fire
on officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) (who were blocking
their route to a Catholic area of Belfast) killing the first RUC
officer to die in the present 'Troubles'.

CAIN
contains information and source material on the conflict
and politics in Northern Ireland.
CAIN is based within Ulster University.